When Ryan
Curatolo went to Florida in 2010 to join his vacationing father, his resume
consisted of a diploma from a jockey school near Chantilly and two last-place
finishes over the course of a year in his native France.

“I thought, ‘If I go to
Florida and I
ride one horse per week, that would be nice,’” recalled Curatolo recently as he
sat outside the jockey’s quarters at Aqueduct Racetrack. “There’s no way I could
have seen all that’s happened to me since then.”

Indeed. The 19-year-old Curatolo,
currently fifth in the Big A’s jockey standings with 25 victories through
Thursday, is one of three finalists for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top
apprentice rider, the winner of which will be announced on Monday evening.

“Being a finalist for the Eclipse
awards – if you had told me that a year ago, I would not have believed you,”
said Curatolo, who would be the first New York-based apprentice to win the
Eclipse since Ariel Smith in 1999.

Curatolo has been riding
regularly on The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit since April
30, and, despite missing several weeks with a broken collarbone suffered in
June, finished eighth in the 2011 standings with 92 victories. Highlights
include four-win days on May 21 at Belmont Park and December 2 at the Big A, and a
pair of graded stakes victories in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo and the Grade 3 Hill
Prince, both accomplished without his bug.

“Ryan started off with a bit of a
European style and he’s adjusted very well to our game,” said Art Magnuson,
assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “He’s very position-oriented. He’s
smart, and he’s a good kid. It’s been interesting to watch.”

Curatolo, who attended the
L’Association de Formation et d’Action Sociale des Ecuries de Course (AFASEC),
began his American career by exercising horses for trainer Patrick Biancone, in
much the same fashion as 2006’s Eclipse-winning apprentice, Julien Leparoux. On
October 31, 2010, Curatolo made his stateside riding debut at Calder Race
Course, where he posted his first win within a week.

“When I first came here, the
thing I had to learn was what the poles are, and when to move,” he said. “In
France, we never thought about the
poles. But I have always been calm on a horse, and patient, and that has helped
me.”

From Calder, Curatolo moved to
Gulfstream
Park at the beginning of
2011, where he tied for 17th place in winning 14 races. While in
Florida, he
caught the eye of the late Carl Lizza and signed on to become the first-call
rider for Flying Zee Stable, which went on to be the leading owner on the NYRA
circuit in 2011.

“Carl met Ryan through Patrick,
saw he had some potential, and decided to give him a shot,” said Carl’s wife,
Viane Lizza, now the principal for Flying Zee. “It’s worked out better than any
of us expected.”

On January 29, Curatolo is
scheduled to lose his five-pound weight allowance, but has every intention of
remaining in New
York.

“Riding here in New York, watching and
learning from the top riders here, like Ramon Dominguez, has helped me so much,”
he said. “I want to keep the momentum going. With all that has happened for me
in the last six months, my goal for 2012 is to keep making the people I ride for
happy.”